To link to the entire object, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed the entire object, paste this HTML in websiteTo link to this page, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed this page, paste this HTML in website

Loyola University New Orleans THE MAROON VOL. 79, NO. 17 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2002 MAROON.LOYNO.EDU Library worker contends dismissal By Philip Braun Staff writer Robert Cameron, former systems coordinator for the Monroe Library, was fired from the university on Jan. 29 and is contesting his termination through the university's grievance procedure. A meeting is scheduled for Tuesday. Cameron, who has worked at Loyola for twenty years, said he received a letter of termination on Jan. 29 from Mary Lee Sweat, dean of libraries, and his supervisor, Laurie Gibson, associate professor at the library. He said that in the letter. Sweat and Gibson said his insubordination was the main reason for his termination. "I don't think that I was terminated with true justification," Cameron said. Cameron also said several friends wrote a letter protesting his firing. Six of the thirty library staff members signed the letter, he said. Sweat declined comment, and Gibson could not be reached for comment. Cameron said that before his termination, Gibson gave him a letter dated Jan. 23, which said that Cameron's attendance since Jan. I was unacceptable. Cameron, who was diagnosed with Hepatitis B during late November 2001, said continuing fatigue symptoms made going to work difficult. On Jan. 23, Cameron met with Sweat, Gibson and Lois Goldstein, director of the department for human resources, in a meeting that had initially been called to discuss a letter sent to Gibson by Cameron's primary care physician regarding a request for accommodation. At that meeting, though, Cameron asked to postpone the discussion until he could have the chance to decide what, if any, accommodations to ask for and to obtain letters from two other doctors. "I explained (during the Jan. 23 meeting) my continuing recovery from Hepatitis was causing more fatigue than I realized it would, and an adverse reaction to a new prescription, which 1 started taking on Thursday, January 17 and stopped taking Monday, January 21, the M.L. King Jr. holiday, had caused me to miss Friday, January 18 and Tuesday, January 22," Cameron said in an e-mail to The Maroon. Cameron said he sent e-mails to Sweat regarding what was discussed at the meeting. Cameron said in the e-mail to The Maroon that on the following day, Sweat issued him a suspension because, as Cameron quotes her, she said, "1 considered your e-mail responses to our meeting yesterday [Jan. 23] to be very inappropriate, and 1 am quite concerned about their content." Cameron's e-mail to The Maroon continued, "This message had been reiterated several times since November 2001, labeling my words and behavior 'inappropriate' no matter what was said or done or whether it was a valid action on my part." Cameron said he had never before been suspended from his job at Loyola. Richard Snow, collection development librarian, first hired Cameron in November of 1981 and recently described him as a conscientious, responsible and hard-working member of the library staff. "I think Robert is a contribution to the library, to the university," Snow said. Cameron's colleague of twenty years and former supervisor, Darla Rushing, library development supervisor, said, "He was extremely dedicated to his work, to the library and to the university, and he cared very deeply about service to students and faculty." December graduation could end after next year PS By Maggie Crawford Contributing writer Loyola students planning to graduate in December may have to change their plans if a proposal made by the Rev. Bernard Knoth, S.J., university president, becomes a reality. The December 2002 graduation is still scheduled, but future December commencements are in jeopardy. Recently Kathy Gros, director of registration services, sent an e-mail to students who might complete their degree in 2003. It said, "A decision was reached to discontinue the December commencement ceremony effective December 2003." Knoth said that cancellation of the ceremony is only a proposal in the conversational stage. "No final decision has been made on this," Knoth said. Several meetings with university deans have been held to discuss the possible benefits and alternatives to canceling future December commencement ceremonies. Knoth said there were many factors involved in the decision to possibly cancel the future graduations. "We want to add more focus on the May graduation ceremonies and receptions," Knoth said. Knoth also said that cost is the main reason the university is considering canceling the December graduations. Each December graduation, which is held in STAFF PHOTO BY lAN SIPARSKY The Rev. Bernard Knoth, S.J., university president, explains that December graduation ceremonies may not be held in the future because of the expense. He spoke at the SGA meeting on Tuesday. Revelers leave burnt trash cans, bullet hole in wake By Stephanie Sarradet Contributing writer A bullet hole through an instructor's office window was among several incidents of vandalism the university has dealt with recently. A fire was reported behind Monroe Hall, and the university had to have several broken windows replaced in the Communications/Music Complex. "It (the broken windows) apparently happened at night, because no one saw it happen," Honora said. Crasto Glass company replaced two windows in the building on Feb. IS. A company employee said the hole in communications instructor Liz Scott's secondstory window was due to gunfire. He said that the broken window was too high for someone to have thrown something at it. It was not determined whether a student or an outsider broke the windows. In the past, the city has had problems with New Year's Eve celebrators shooting guns in the air. Someone reported a trash can fire Feb. 10 about 11 p.m., said Roger Pinac, captain of University Police. The fire occurred in a recycling bin on Loyola Street, near Monroe Hall, he said. "I don't think there was any intention to hurt or destroy the building," Pinac said. "Someone probably threw a cigarette in the bin, not realizing what they were doing." Lieutenant Angela Honora, crime prevention officer for University Police, agreed. Law student sues Loyola; case being appealed By Curie Veronica Jones Staff writer Loyola Law School student Ix-once Jennings Miller 111 filed a lawsuit in April against Loyola alleging that one of his fall semester classes, titled "The Legal Profession," was not taught satisfactorily. Miller is seeking over $2.(XX) for compensation and for the C grade to be taken off his transcript. The case has been dismissed twice and is now on appeal at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. "It's a ridiculous claim," said Richard McCormick. the attorney defending Loyola in the lawsuit. "'This is not something that belongs in court. This is something to be done at the university. He is such a poor law student he didn't know that the law didn't provide a remedy for it." According to the civil court petition for damages, Miller alleged that Loyola "failed to meet its obligation to provide the course of instruction reasonably expected from a recognized accredited institution of higher education." The petition says that Cynthia Lepow changed the time of the class, "gave an unprofessional exam that contained errors and had difficulty in communicating the course material to the students." Miller said Lepow failed to cover material in the handbook and gave arbitary information. "This is the worst quality of instruction I have ever seen," he said. "It's a disgrace that Loyola would do something like that." Lepow is on medical leave and could not be reached for comment. A board of five Loyola professors was instituted to investigate Miller's allegations, and according to Miller, the dean sent him a letter saying that although the school did find the course below satisfactory, he would still have to pay for it. "It's unfortunate. The ratings of this teacher were the worst in Loyola Law School. I met with Father Knoth to discuss this, but I just got a load of political garbage with no real remedy," Miller said. The Rev. Bernard Knoth,S.J., university president, declined to comment. Miller said he intends to take this matter to the Supreme Court of Louisiana. "I think the Supreme Court will hear this," he said. "If Loyola University loses, then it will set a precedent because then students will be able to sue every university in the state of Louisiana." McCormick said he doesn't think the case will go to the state Supreme Court. "I frankly would be very surprised if they looked at this case worthy of attention. What this boils down to is this guy is a crybaby," McCormick said. "It's a ridiculous claim.... He is such a poor law student he didn't know that the law didn't provide a remedy for it." -RICHARD MCCORMICK, LOYOLA'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY, on Leonce Miller's suit against Loyola's law school. See GRADUATION, Page 3 See VANDALISM, Page 3 gfg

Archival image is an 8-bit greyscale tiff that was scanned from microfilm at 300 dpi. The original file size was 1726.59 KB.

Transcript

Loyola University New Orleans THE MAROON VOL. 79, NO. 17 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2002 MAROON.LOYNO.EDU Library worker contends dismissal By Philip Braun Staff writer Robert Cameron, former systems coordinator for the Monroe Library, was fired from the university on Jan. 29 and is contesting his termination through the university's grievance procedure. A meeting is scheduled for Tuesday. Cameron, who has worked at Loyola for twenty years, said he received a letter of termination on Jan. 29 from Mary Lee Sweat, dean of libraries, and his supervisor, Laurie Gibson, associate professor at the library. He said that in the letter. Sweat and Gibson said his insubordination was the main reason for his termination. "I don't think that I was terminated with true justification," Cameron said. Cameron also said several friends wrote a letter protesting his firing. Six of the thirty library staff members signed the letter, he said. Sweat declined comment, and Gibson could not be reached for comment. Cameron said that before his termination, Gibson gave him a letter dated Jan. 23, which said that Cameron's attendance since Jan. I was unacceptable. Cameron, who was diagnosed with Hepatitis B during late November 2001, said continuing fatigue symptoms made going to work difficult. On Jan. 23, Cameron met with Sweat, Gibson and Lois Goldstein, director of the department for human resources, in a meeting that had initially been called to discuss a letter sent to Gibson by Cameron's primary care physician regarding a request for accommodation. At that meeting, though, Cameron asked to postpone the discussion until he could have the chance to decide what, if any, accommodations to ask for and to obtain letters from two other doctors. "I explained (during the Jan. 23 meeting) my continuing recovery from Hepatitis was causing more fatigue than I realized it would, and an adverse reaction to a new prescription, which 1 started taking on Thursday, January 17 and stopped taking Monday, January 21, the M.L. King Jr. holiday, had caused me to miss Friday, January 18 and Tuesday, January 22," Cameron said in an e-mail to The Maroon. Cameron said he sent e-mails to Sweat regarding what was discussed at the meeting. Cameron said in the e-mail to The Maroon that on the following day, Sweat issued him a suspension because, as Cameron quotes her, she said, "1 considered your e-mail responses to our meeting yesterday [Jan. 23] to be very inappropriate, and 1 am quite concerned about their content." Cameron's e-mail to The Maroon continued, "This message had been reiterated several times since November 2001, labeling my words and behavior 'inappropriate' no matter what was said or done or whether it was a valid action on my part." Cameron said he had never before been suspended from his job at Loyola. Richard Snow, collection development librarian, first hired Cameron in November of 1981 and recently described him as a conscientious, responsible and hard-working member of the library staff. "I think Robert is a contribution to the library, to the university," Snow said. Cameron's colleague of twenty years and former supervisor, Darla Rushing, library development supervisor, said, "He was extremely dedicated to his work, to the library and to the university, and he cared very deeply about service to students and faculty." December graduation could end after next year PS By Maggie Crawford Contributing writer Loyola students planning to graduate in December may have to change their plans if a proposal made by the Rev. Bernard Knoth, S.J., university president, becomes a reality. The December 2002 graduation is still scheduled, but future December commencements are in jeopardy. Recently Kathy Gros, director of registration services, sent an e-mail to students who might complete their degree in 2003. It said, "A decision was reached to discontinue the December commencement ceremony effective December 2003." Knoth said that cancellation of the ceremony is only a proposal in the conversational stage. "No final decision has been made on this," Knoth said. Several meetings with university deans have been held to discuss the possible benefits and alternatives to canceling future December commencement ceremonies. Knoth said there were many factors involved in the decision to possibly cancel the future graduations. "We want to add more focus on the May graduation ceremonies and receptions," Knoth said. Knoth also said that cost is the main reason the university is considering canceling the December graduations. Each December graduation, which is held in STAFF PHOTO BY lAN SIPARSKY The Rev. Bernard Knoth, S.J., university president, explains that December graduation ceremonies may not be held in the future because of the expense. He spoke at the SGA meeting on Tuesday. Revelers leave burnt trash cans, bullet hole in wake By Stephanie Sarradet Contributing writer A bullet hole through an instructor's office window was among several incidents of vandalism the university has dealt with recently. A fire was reported behind Monroe Hall, and the university had to have several broken windows replaced in the Communications/Music Complex. "It (the broken windows) apparently happened at night, because no one saw it happen," Honora said. Crasto Glass company replaced two windows in the building on Feb. IS. A company employee said the hole in communications instructor Liz Scott's secondstory window was due to gunfire. He said that the broken window was too high for someone to have thrown something at it. It was not determined whether a student or an outsider broke the windows. In the past, the city has had problems with New Year's Eve celebrators shooting guns in the air. Someone reported a trash can fire Feb. 10 about 11 p.m., said Roger Pinac, captain of University Police. The fire occurred in a recycling bin on Loyola Street, near Monroe Hall, he said. "I don't think there was any intention to hurt or destroy the building," Pinac said. "Someone probably threw a cigarette in the bin, not realizing what they were doing." Lieutenant Angela Honora, crime prevention officer for University Police, agreed. Law student sues Loyola; case being appealed By Curie Veronica Jones Staff writer Loyola Law School student Ix-once Jennings Miller 111 filed a lawsuit in April against Loyola alleging that one of his fall semester classes, titled "The Legal Profession," was not taught satisfactorily. Miller is seeking over $2.(XX) for compensation and for the C grade to be taken off his transcript. The case has been dismissed twice and is now on appeal at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. "It's a ridiculous claim," said Richard McCormick. the attorney defending Loyola in the lawsuit. "'This is not something that belongs in court. This is something to be done at the university. He is such a poor law student he didn't know that the law didn't provide a remedy for it." According to the civil court petition for damages, Miller alleged that Loyola "failed to meet its obligation to provide the course of instruction reasonably expected from a recognized accredited institution of higher education." The petition says that Cynthia Lepow changed the time of the class, "gave an unprofessional exam that contained errors and had difficulty in communicating the course material to the students." Miller said Lepow failed to cover material in the handbook and gave arbitary information. "This is the worst quality of instruction I have ever seen," he said. "It's a disgrace that Loyola would do something like that." Lepow is on medical leave and could not be reached for comment. A board of five Loyola professors was instituted to investigate Miller's allegations, and according to Miller, the dean sent him a letter saying that although the school did find the course below satisfactory, he would still have to pay for it. "It's unfortunate. The ratings of this teacher were the worst in Loyola Law School. I met with Father Knoth to discuss this, but I just got a load of political garbage with no real remedy," Miller said. The Rev. Bernard Knoth,S.J., university president, declined to comment. Miller said he intends to take this matter to the Supreme Court of Louisiana. "I think the Supreme Court will hear this," he said. "If Loyola University loses, then it will set a precedent because then students will be able to sue every university in the state of Louisiana." McCormick said he doesn't think the case will go to the state Supreme Court. "I frankly would be very surprised if they looked at this case worthy of attention. What this boils down to is this guy is a crybaby," McCormick said. "It's a ridiculous claim.... He is such a poor law student he didn't know that the law didn't provide a remedy for it." -RICHARD MCCORMICK, LOYOLA'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY, on Leonce Miller's suit against Loyola's law school. See GRADUATION, Page 3 See VANDALISM, Page 3 gfg